Fractures of the Way
by The Dark Taff
Summary: Kara Thrace, A rebellious Princess, a smuggler...hmm make a good movie this...;) Update: 10 Jul 19. Bit of a rewrite of the chapters. 1 & 2 done 3 to follow. Just a tidy up and rehash as wasnt happy with a few things. More soon!
1. PrologueThe Princess

**Prologue**.

Sky, cloud, sky cloud….Voices….No, a voice…..One voice…..

"Starbuck, Apollo. I've lost you on dradis. I'm blind. Starbuck, Apollo. I repeat, I got no sign of you or the Raider. Starbuck, report! Starbuck, report!"

Hole in the canopy…..what the frak? Images….Mother?!…...Leoben…...Voices again…..

"This is Apollo. Do you read me? Starbuck, report! Starbuck! Starbuck, I have zero visibility. Starbuck, are you out there? Kara!"

Alarm….What's that noise?…..Images….things in the clouds…

"Starbuck, Apollo. Lost you on dradis. I say again, I've lost you. I'll try and fix on you. Kara! All right, Kara, listen to me. Forget the damn toaster. Climb now or you're dead. Godsdamn it, Kara, pull up now. We can still pull out of this, we haven't gone past the point of no return. Pull up!"

Silence….Lee…..Gone…...Can't hear him….

Kara Thrace sat in the cockpit of a damaged Viper, falling into the gravity well of a gas giant she and Lee Adama had been patrolling. Wind rushed through a hole in the canopy. She lolled in her harness as the plane fell, drifting like a leaf in the wind. Images rushed past her in her minds eye and….outside? She craned her neck over as the light faded and ebbed…

"What the frak?"

Her voice sounded hollow in the flight helmet, the air rushing through the cockpit muffling it. The images….no the things she could see through the clouds…. _stars?_ A huge white object began to coalesce, object?….No! A _ship!?_ Round saucer shape, graceful sweeping hull she saw…...Words! Numbers….1701? In a blink though it was gone, lost in the murkiness that surrounded her. Shaking herself from the funk she found herself in, hypoxic now she keyed the wireless once more, desperation flooding her system.

"Apollo...Starbuck...Lee do you copy?"

She called, her answer nothing but static. More things swam about her...Objects glimpsed through the clouds vessels, people, places. A grey thing parted the clouds this time….NO! She started at the almost familiar shape...The Galactica...or something _like_ the old girl came at her. Like an older, clunkier version of her home…..images of an old man in a blue uniform, kind face….white hair…. _who? Adama? Noooooo!_

 _Another time Kara Thrace, another place, another you._

The voice came through her headphones in a dreamy whisper, a smooth old voice before it faded away with the almost Galactica. More visions assailed her. A strange fighter plane, stars on its flanks, dodging flak, another her in its cockpit. Then a more vivid vision. A ship, ocean going this time, heading for her. It was so real that she threw an arm up and yelled! Figures scurried on its decks, images of giant flying lizards swarmed before it swept past her leaving more numbers in her mind….. _163_

A hissing on the wireless….A voice…..distant coming through the waves of dizziness and increasing tiredness. She was tired. Tired of fighting...tired of it all...the voice cut through and woke her...

"Visual. Visual. Okay. Kara, I'm coming to get you. Kara, please, listen to me! Come back. Godsdamn it, Kara! You come back! Come back!"

She started out of her funk, a jolt of adrenaline at the sound of Lee's voice. The objects in the clouds swirled…...Pyramids? Black holes?…..All came swirling in and out of sight around the stricken Viper. Then a peaceful scene appeared, the gusting air seemed to calm and Lee's voice was reduced to a chattering she only vaguely heard. It was as if she was watching from above through clouds, floating without her ship. Before her appeared a car, big and black. Two men sat on the hood drinking beer….. _beer?_ A presence beside her and there another man…..dark haired and wearing an….. _overcoat?_ Floating with her. She giggled at him. He smiled, the sounds subsided more and he spoke. His voice as clear as a bell.

"Not yet Kara Thrace…..Not yet"

She smiled back and another name came to her…..Cas…. Then in an instant the sounds returned, the buffetting grew worse and...What the _frak?!_ Starbuck, mild panic welling up, keyed her wireless again. More strange shapes in the mist. Less dream like now she realised. It all became more real. Suddenly there was a crack, jolting the Viper, a blue box bounced off the nose to her port slipping in and out of the swirling clouds. Its door was open, she goggled again in awe, a man with a mop of hair and a large chin gawked back, appeared to recognise her, grinned, then waved. _Waved!?_

"Doctor?"

The words came unbidden from her mouth. She _Knew_ him…. _How?!_

"Doctor!"

In an instant though the box, the man, had disappeared and her knowledge of that face faded from her mind leaving her even more confused. The moment lasted seconds before she cast an eye about her. At the instruments, the airframe shuddering and the bits flying off it. She sighed, slumping in the seat. Briefly she thought of home, her mother, her friends. Zak, Lee...Sam. Then, a final click of the wireless and...

"Apollo…..Starbuck….It's okay. Just let me go."

She heard herself speak but couldn't understand her words. The sound of Lee's voice, of CIC were becoming indistinct, tinny as she again began to grey out. Then as the cockpit, the sounds faded to black she thought she heard one last voice…..

"No, Dad, it's no use. Her ship's in pieces. Her ship's in pieces. No chute. We lost her""

 **One**

 **The Princess.**

 **1 ABY**

 **Crevice Palace**

The angular towers of the palace jutted from a crater scooped out of the mountainside. Red lights flashed at the tips of various antennae and scopes at the peaks of these towers, throwing up garish shadows in the caves roof. Kr'l birds and Bresh lizards swooped and soared about them, brightly coloured flashes of movement. Lush green moss, fed by the thermal power the palace pulled from the planet through this mountain, flowed down the rocks on the internal side of the crater towards a small landing field and training/parade ground. Lights flashed at its corners and lines were painted to denote landing pads. They seemed curiously out of place. In this place of history modernity always looked...well...wrong. more out of place was the grey hulk of a Lambda class shuttle, wings folded and guarded by white armoured figures. The Empire was paying a visit.

On a balcony that jutted out overlooking these areas, patrolled by leather armoured warriors of the Way, a solitary figure, similarly dressed, leant on a permacrete wall. Another out of place structure that had been added to the natural stone works of the palace. She was about 19 or 20, shortish but well defined in the way of an athlete or gymnast rather than the rather hulking and more toned warriors that kept a discreet, watchful, distance from her. The reddish armour she wore, breastplate and greaves over an olive smock and leggings, clashed with her auburn hair and the tribal tattoos on her pale cheek. Princess Swana was sulking again, hence the discreet distance.

She stared out at the warriors training below her, the Imperial ship, the customs cutter of her father's fleet and huffed to herself, a brief but explosive outburst of air. The small droid beside her, a drumshaped DD unit with a monowheel and a dome not unlike that of an Astromech tilted its photo receptor to watch its mistress. It keened a question, plaintive and low. Her eyes closed for a moment as she calmed herself. The sullen face softened slightly and looked down at the green droid. She smiled and turned to lean an arm on the parapet as she spoke.

"I know DD. I should be happy to be in my position. But how do I rule, which I eventually will, without ever having seen anything outside of Danju? And why do we still invite these Imperial swine into our home?"

With a sweeping arm she indicated the cavern, the palace and the landing field. The droid burbled to effect that he didn't know, or more likely, didn't understand. Smiling sadly at the droid Swana sighed and kicked at a patch of moss. The stuff grew everywhere and could get out of control if not checked. As she idly considered why the patch hadn't been dealt with something in her senses flashed, someone was…...BEHIND HER!

The long bladed Danji sword was out before she even considered what she was doing, the Way leading her. It clanged against one end of a Danji fighting stick, somewhat like a pugil stick but with wicked blades instead of pads. A grinning, flat-nosed face appeared above her and the pressure of the blade began to increase pushing her back and down. She tilted her head and grinned back causing her assailant to double his efforts. DD skittered away, whooping to himself. The noise alerted the guard but before a young sentry could react his colleague stayed him with a hand, gestured to the man who now appeared to be attempting to murder the young princess and, leaning against his shield commented.

"Master Genaris. It will be interesting, rest your weapon young 'un"

After much back and forth grunting and clanging of weapons the deadlock finally seemed to be going the way of the larger man until Swana shifted slightly on her feet and kicked out suddenly, flipping up and over the man and landing with her katana shaped blade at the base of his skull. The older guard held out a hand and his colleague, grimacing, handed over a credit chip.

"I see your reflexes have not suffered in the same way as your mood you highness."

The large man smiled, carefully, _very carefully,_ tilting his gaze to watch Swana from the corner of his eye. One flick of a wrist would effectively remove his head. In turn Swana grinned and deftly returned the blade to its sheath on the rear of her armour.

"Of course not Genaris. You taught me well enough. But you're right…."

The smile slipped a notch and she stepped back, head lowering. Genaris closed his eyes and shook his head, he hadn't meant to bring the princess down that way. He turned to gaze at the landing field, hand feeling the back of his neck. With a sigh he wiped the smear of blood it came away with on a trouser leg and looked back to the young woman.

"Your high….Swana….."

She looked up sharply at the use of her name rather than her honorific. Then softened again, Genaris had afterall been in her fathers service for decades.

"I know old friend. I'm just kriffing annoyed. With my father, my life, this kriffing world!"

An eyebrow raised at the use of offworlder slang but he remained quiet. He'd known Swana since she was a young girl. He'd trained her in the use of the Way and in other forms of combat she may need. He'd watched her grow to the young woman stood before him. She was a strong character like her mother but lacked the level headed qualities of her father…...for now. He didn't think she'd lack them for long and he disagreed, to a point, with her fathers banning her from serving with the Navy. Such were the constraints of being an only child in a time of Galactic civil war. The rebellion had just scored massive victories at Scarif and Yavin and the last thing the boss wanted was his daughter in the firing line.

"You will find your own way child. Whatever that is. But you must be mindful of the power you have within you…..and that impetuousness that you possess. What I'm saying is…..don't do anything rash"

Swana smiled in a way he'd seen a hundred times before, usually before she got into trouble…..

"You know me too well old man….."

She smiled again, more sadly this time and turned to leave.

"Swana….Be careful?"

She hesitated a moment. Then walked away, DD rolling after her dutifully.

Genaris Quinn watched her until she disappeared into the palace. Softly, to himself he groaned.

"Oh frak…."


	2. Alone

**Two**

 **Alone**

Silence…..

No, not totally. There was a whistling. Like air escaping under pressure, a high pitched whine like a moan of despair. The sound undulated, making an odd counterpoint to the silence.

Through a fog of concussion and the mists of a long sleep the figure stirred. Aches and pains began to appear as her body made her aware of its existence. A twinge here, a cramp there. Confusion filled her mind as the brain, the body clawed it's way back to wakeful if not painful alertness. Finally a voice, a whisper came through the misty, sogginess of her mind.

" _Wake up Kara...wake uuuuuuup"_

"Awwwww Frak."

She groaned aloud…..To no one, she knew. Memories whirled in her pain addled mind. Lee's last transmission, images in the clouds and then an overwhelming darkness just after a flash of loss and desolation as, what she'd thought, death carried her to hades and beyond.

Kara Thrace cautiously opened one eye and then shut it quickly as the light of day blinded her, pain stabbing at her brain. What felt like an age later, _had she passed out?_ She tried again. This time was not as bad, a dull throbbing behind the eyes the only initial manifestation, so, gingerly she tried the other eye. The pain still stabbed but was less than before. She breathed a moment, sat there in the dissipating gloom. Took in her immediate surroundings but not daring to look outside the canopy. It had been almost dark when she'd first opened her eyes. Now, Looking about her, she could see that she wasn't airborne any more. In fact the plane was sat on its landing skids, quite stable. As she finally dared to look outside she saw that the Viper was sat on a huge white landscape. Snow was beginning to fall around and was ppiing up on the front of the canopy. A moment of utter confusion hit her like a slap in the face. She'd been above a gas giant not a planet? Her head throbbed and she closed her eyes again. Opening them finally, she grimaced.

"Well if this is hades its not living up to expectations."

Looking back inside the cockpit Kara noted that the canopy was cracked, as was her faceplate. The plastic starred and warped. No surprise there considering the battering that she could just about recall. Also, with no small surprise, she saw that there were lights on in the cockpit. DRADIS was offline but the planes CPU seemed OK. She flipped a switch on her portside console, mentally crossing fingers. No wireless. _Frak._ She pounded the side of her console with a gloved hand, the stinging strangely welcome. Blowing out her cheeks she flipped a cover open, fiddled a little and then, fingers properly crossed this time, another set of switches and the environmental unit sprung to life blowing warmer air around her. A victory, small, but a victory nonetheless. The unit was showing on its screen that the outside temps weren't as cold as she'd first thought. Local conditions were not unlike autumn on Aquaria, cold but not arctic. Next thing on the list. She was mentally ticking things off. Filing some and discarding others. Despite the cracks in the visor on her helmet it had retained its integrity and she was, a quick check revealed, still on suit air, the gauge showing about half full. Pulling the small air test vial from its holder she pulled back the cover, a few seconds of nothing and then...Green! Breathable. Reaching up she cracked the seal on her helmet, tentatively sniffed the air and, when she didn't die, removed it completely and placed it in her lap.

She sat a moment gathering herself. Again mentally ticking things off. Her Viper may be mostly ok but her own internals were still fracked and she was exhausted. The effort of removing her helmet had taken more out of her than she'd realised.

With a start she jerked in the seat harness. She'd dropped off or blacked out. She rubbed at her eyes with her fists. Feeling a little better she decided it was time to get started. On what she had no idea but have to start somewhere.

Blowing a wisp of hair from her face she pulled a glove off, noting the chill. More switch flipping showed her the Vipers condition, not good, and her position, lost. Also not good. The DRADIS-like screen of the navigation system showed there were no star systems, no planets that matched anything from the Galactica's last know stellar mapping run. This brought her up short. Lost. Starbuck had never been lost before. Stranded yes, but lost?

"Well nothing like a challenge to kick you in the ass. Come on nugget."

She said to herself. She was getting nowhere sat her. Glancing about her at the now substantially lighter landscape she made a decision. Taking a breath she pulled the release on the canopy and pushed the assembly forward. Snow spilled in and flakes fell about her. She closed her eyes and swore softly. Again she noticed the cold. Frigid but not as bad as she'd thought. Gathering her strength she shifted her weight in the seat, unclasped the harness and placed her helmet on the cockpit foaming. Grunting she pulled herself upright and, standing carefully, took her first look about her.

"Hmm, the garden spot"

The area the ship had settled in, _how?_ , was at the head of a valley. Tree lined, snow covered hills trailed off into the distance looking for all the colonies like a forest on Caprica. This caused her to grimace again, confused. She scrunched her nose up and smelled the air. Pine. Pine? _Pine!? What the Frak?_ Again gathering her meager strength she grabbed the edge of the cockpit. After a few breaths she vaulted over the canopy rail and onto the ground. She steadied herself, tentatively tapped on the floor testing its solidit. As she stood straight and worked the kinks from her stressed body she noted the scorched earth about the ship. It had obviously landed under power. Curiouser and curiouser. A walk around of the Viper revealed much damage, panels were missing, there was a hole in the stabilator and she looked like she'd been through a flak storm. This caused her to pause. Was she actually dead? Was this hades? As she pondered this she started to circle around the ship and barked her shin on the front skid swearing loudly.

"nope Thrace, not dead yet."

Rubbing her leg she glanced up. There, on the nose, inexplicably, a gash in the skin covered in blue paint. Staring at it she suddenly felt a chill, turning about and looking for whatever she'd hit. Seeing nothing she touched it a moment. Suddenly an image appeared again in her addled mind. _Doctor….._ It vanished as soon as it had arrived in her subconscious, but the image of that smile, that smile…... inexplicably calmed her. Kara stood there, snow falling gently about her and shook her head grimacing.

"Godsdamned it. How the hades am I still in one piece?"

A grumble came from her belly and she returned to her mental list. _Food_. The Next, logical thing was a check of her survival kit. Did she have anything to survive on? Could there be anything to eat nearby? Animals? Gods only knew! Back to the list. She patted the holster at her side. Pistol. Check, thank frak, ok and two spare mags. Cigars? She grinned for the first time as she felt the pocket of her flight suit. Two at least and her matches.

Returning to the plane she bent under the wing. Kicking the release plate on the underside of the Viper revealed a small cargo bay, no bigger than a large suitcase, holding a sealed pod. Olive green and stencilled in yellow she crossed fingers once again. Her viper had been flying back when the boss was a pilot. Gods only knew what she'd find in it. She pulled it out, it bounced on the freezing ground and stooping she ripped the seal open. A small rucksack and a flight jacket fell to the ground. She grinned and pulled on the jacket almost immediately feeling warmer and more alive. Zipping it up she dipped again and picked up the rucksack. A shot of pain hitting her in the lower back reminded her of her condition.

"What have we in here? Argh…...ewwwww how old is this shit?"

The rations she pulled from the bag were about ten years old and the water bottles even older. Making a face she grinned and saluted with the bottle.

"Bottoms up!"

Taking a swig of the cold but sourish tasting water she looked about. Hills, pine, snow. Everywhere. Which way to go? Again she blew out a breath. Took one last look about and made a decision. Choosing a direction, just because it appeared that the sky was lighter, she set her mouth in a grim line. She clambered up the kick steps on the fuselage, reached back into the cockpit, flipped the mains switch off and pulled the canopy back into position. She caught herself standing there, one foot in the sprung access step and one on the cannon as she paused a moment. Almost immediately she started to hear the sounds of the forest about her. The wind in the trees, whistling through the holes in the airframe. Creaking branches, the gentle patter of the snow. Somewhere water flowed, she smiled at this, water she'd need. Then, other sounds. Wildlife. Birds called and animals replied. Growls, barks, twittering and howling. She wondered at this. New Caprica had had no animal life at all and other than the rare daggitts there were in the fleet it had been four years since she'd seen anything even resembling a bird or bigger since that last leave to Caprica when Zak…...Zak. That prompted a jolt of memory. Zak…..Lee…...Sam…... _Lee._ She shook her head to ward off the phantoms as she checked, finally, the Viper was secure. Satisfied she took the opportunity to use the elevated position on top of the plane to fix her direction. Down the valley. She thought for a moment she saw smoke curling into the sky. Or was it just vapour? No matter, even the remotest possibility of life here had decided her course.

With a grunt she dropped back to the ground, snagged the rucksack and swund it onto her shoulders. She removed the pistol from its holster, racked the action and replaced it. Finally ready to go she came up short. Turning she looked at the fighter. She felt something strange, walking back to the Viper she wiped an errant snowflake...or was it a tear, from her face and patted the fuselage. Looking up at the cowling she saw the numbers 8757NC. She ran a hand over the name stencilled under the canopy rail and smiled. They'd been through enough together over the years and she felt a visceral connection to this particular Mk II. It would be hard to leave her. Finally smiling once more but this time with more than a hint of sadness she breathed out.

"Don't worry old girl, I'll be back for you soon."

She turned and faced up the valley. What was out there? Wherever the frak there was! Reaching inside the pocket of her jacket she fished out a watch cap, pulled it on and with a jolt recalled her cigars. Pulling one out with a flourish and the trademark Starbuck cackle, she lit it and inhaled deeply. Savouring the taste of the smoke and the warmth it imparted she set the valley in her sights and headed off down the slope.

She'd be back, she reasoned, whatever it took.


	3. A scoundrel

**Three**

 **Han**

This, he reflected, was moof milk. A low grade run to the outer rim to collect some intelligence or other. It had been quiet, relatively, on Yavin IV the last few months so he'd been doing the usual Han thing, sat in an access pit in the Falcon tinkering...well, repairing something, again, when one of Draven's cronies had put his head in the hatch. A mission, no one else to help, usual bantha poodoo. Only ship with the range, no one to help etc etc.

Luke and Leia were off on some recruitment mission to Circarpous IV for the Rebels, Chewie was still suffering from an infection he'd picked up and was back with the fleet in the sick bay, no doubt making life difficult for the med techs and the only other person he even partly trusted, Wedge Antilles, was off scouting for pilots for the newest Alliance squadron. This meant he had to put up with Threepio, the golden protocol droid, on his own.

Han had been his usual oafish angry self. He'd blustered, muttered but finally thrown down the rag he was holding and thrown a hydro spanner back in the pit with a clatter and followed the youngster. On the way to operations he was, he realised, at a bit of a loose end and In truth this could be the distraction he needed.

In the briefing room he'd not really listened to the Alliance officer, allowing Threepio to take all the information he needed…..Threepio. Hrrm. That was another downside. He'd stared at the flight plan and not taken notice of much really. But he was, not excited by it all, but happy to get away from this damn base!

So here he was cruising to some back water system in the Falcon looking for a down at heel colony planet to meet up with an Alliance spy. This caused another grimace and he sighed and leaned back in the pilots seat. The navicomp chattered to itself, lights flashed around him and outside the mottled light of hyperspace drifted and swirled past the canopy. He stared at it, lonely for a moment. He'd come a long way from the young pickpocket to the smuggler and freighter captain he was now. The many adventures, he snorted at that, he, Lando, Chewie and one or two significant others, ahem, had been through had brought him here. Despite himself he grinned at the thought of where he was and some of those adventures. Maybe he'd get back to the Corporate Sector and do what Roa had and go semi legit. He grimaced and shook off the thought and sipped the caf he had with him. He suddenly felt irritated and the grimace intensified. It was almost a year to the day since Luke had dropped the hammer on the Death Star and here he was still stuck with the Rebels. Cursing his luck, the system, Leia, Luke and anyone or thing he could think of Han Solo stuck his feet up on the console and tried to sleep.

An interminable time later the bleeping of the navicomp woke him. Dragging himself from the dream of home he'd been deep into he stretched and looked up through gritty eyes. The white and green planet of Danju was now looming large in the segmented windows of the Falcon. He coughed, rubbed his eyes and swung his feet off the console, just as the boundary marker came up on his display.

"Ahhh here we are."

He swung the ship around onto a better approach. Fine tuning the engines and settling back into pilot mode. He smiled, always happy to be at the controls. Half an ear always listened though, for a stray bump, clang or rumble. Leaning over he keyed the commons board and over the intercom called back to threepio.

"Hey goldenrod! Get strapped in will ya? We're almost there."

The Falcon dropped low into the clouds and immediately got a call from spaceport control. Han hit the ident key that showed a false ID code. Alliance supplied for a change rather than bought. _Small mercies Solo_ he thought to himself as he set up for his approach.

"Freighter Source Code this is Crevice City control. State intentions please?"

He grinned, the false id worked. Ignoring the clatter behind him as Threepio got ready for the landing Han keyed his mic.

"Ahhhh Crevice City, Source Code. I'm actually making for planet fall at Traders Cranny? Can I get direct clearance there? I'm familiar with the terrain."

There was a pause and a different voice came on the line….One Han recognised with a grin.

"Welcome back Draygo. Been a long time."

Han dropped his head, shaking it and grinning. He keyed the comm again, the owner of that voice knew him only too well. And not only as Vykk Draygo.

"Hello Quinn. How's things buddy?"

There was a grunt that may have been a laugh and the rich and rumbling voice of Genaris Quinn came back.

"Not great my friend. When you've finished at the Cranny drop in. I may have a job for you, and before you ask, yes it pays. Is the Wook with you?"

Han grimaced at this. _Nah he's sick!_ He smiled tightly.

"Naw, he's home visiting family. But yes, gimme a few days and I'll swing by. You still in the old job?"

The grunt again on the line again. Han had known Quinn a long time. He wasn't native to Danju, in fact thinking about it the subject of where he was actually born had never quite been settled. Maybe this time eh?

"So you're flying _Solo_ on this one? Yes I'm still there. Call when you're on your way. Crevice city out."

Han laughed out loud at the sly reference to his real identity and set course for the Cranny. The comm cracked and popped again and the controller at Traders Crevice came up.

"Source Code, yer cleared direct to the field. Priority handlin!"

Han grinned at the more local accent and acknowledged. Silently thanking Quinn for the assist.

Traders Cranny is a small settlement near the equator of Danju and as such in the temperate, tundra like region that is home to the majority of the population of this world. Granted it was at the edge of the inhabited areas but this suited Han and the myriad other smugglers, criminals and assorted rogues that clustered here to do dirty deals and the like. Scoundrels to a being. He snorted, Leia would love that!

With Threepio safely dispatched with their contact Han stood in the hatch watching as their speeder headed off in a cloud of steaming snow as the engines vaporized the gently falling snow. He glanced at the sky and shivered. Wondering back to the cabin that he called home he stopped a moment and wrinkled his nose at the smell. He'd have to get it cleaned at some point. Half eaten foodpacs, empty cups and a dead bottle of wyverns reserve lay scattered about. He dug in a storage locker for his thermal jacket, shook it it out and pulled it on over his ships jacket. Deciding it wasn't cold enough that he'd need the trousers as well he snagged his gun belt and fastened it over the jacket.

A slight breeze tugged at his hair as he left the hatch. He pulled on a glove pausing as he keyed the palm lock as he left and closing the ramp. He pulled the second glove on and looked about. There were three ships here, the Falcon, an old freighter sat on its tricycle of landing struts nearer the spaceport building and a small wanderer the other side of it. The odd speeder could be seen in the town itself but nothing out of the ordinary. He began walking to the edge of the landing field. Lights blinked here and there. Set up on standard transceiver rigs to guide ships in. He could see the tower in the centre of town. Half hidden in the low cloud and lit by flashing beacons, tapcaf lights and the dull street lights of the main boulevard.

As he passed the freighter, boots crunching in the snow, he was reminded of Sonniod. His small friend and fellow smuggler. That bag of a hat and his easy laugh. Han felt a tug of nostalgia. He stifled it though and carried on. As he passed it he had to admit the ship was identical to the point that he had to look hard to see if it was actually his old friend. That sparked another set of memories. Memories of another cold planet called Lur and the chaos that his life descended into. He smiled despite the not so good memories and with a grin wondered how Fiolla was these days.

The town was typical of a million places like it across the galaxy that Han and Chewie had been in. It was like a frozen cross between Mos Eisley and Ammund City. Lots of Lock-Slab and permacrete buildings, nearly all single storey with a high perimeter wall manned by the local defence force.

The landing field and spaceport were outside the wall but still had its own smaller perimeter. Everything was controlled from the big central tower though. He carried on through the entrance arch in the wall and pulling the jacket about his body headed for the tapcaf he usually used here. As he approached he saw the illuminated sign that read "Gorno's Place" It actually read "Orno Plac" at the moment as the sign was still broke, as it had been, what, 5 years ago? He smiled again and wandered through the doors.

Inside the place was alive, warm and smelled of a thousand bars and tapcafs he'd been in a million times. Usually with Chewie, Lando or somesuch. This time he was alone. Suddenly he felt exposed and, bearing this in mind, he found a quiet booth off to one side and ordered a pitcher of the local ale and some Corellian food from the servitor droid.

From here he could see the entrance, the bar and most of the rest of the establishment. He shucked off the coat and plonked his feet up on the padded seating next to him. The whole place was smoke filled and seemed merry enough. Huddles of locals, traders and offworlders sat and stood around the place and at the bar.

His ale arrived and as he sipped the malty drink he relaxed a little. It was very rare that Han Solo did this but he knew this place and many of its occupants and was not worried about the Empire or bounty hunters finding him. A few of the locals nodded in greeting, expressed surprise that he was back and wandered on. As he sat watching the myriad goings on he noticed a young woman enter. The youngster pulled off her cap and shook out her blonde hair. She wore a flight suit and short winter flight jacket with patches on it. It looked vaguely Corellian but was "off" enough that it couldn't be, She had a sidearm and a backpack over one shoulder. She looked exhausted and wandered up to the bar. Once there she dropped the bag, leant on the metal serving area and tiredly pushed her hair back.

"Gimme a drink. Anything and some food. I got this to pay with."

The barman looked down at her, he was a tall local with tribal tattoos up one side of his face. He laughed once, looked at the handful of whatever she had in an outstretched hand and scooped it up. When he turned back he placed a large glass of something…..A Tevraki whiskey by the look of it.

Go find a table. His look seemed to say. She grinned at him and turned to walk off. Unfortunately a large Gungan was stood behind her and although she pulled up short, they almost collided. Her face went wide at the sight of the creature who in turn looked down at her.

"Whatsa youz lookin at?"

She googled enough that Han took instant notice. _She ain't from round here._ He slowly rose from his table and walked over to her. Bumping the Gungan as he passed.

"Hey, there you are. I'm over here. This way."

He gently pulled the young lady by the elbow away from the tall alien. No easy task as she seemed to then notice the other occupants of the bar. More Gungans, Rodians, Devaronians amongst them and seemed about to lose it. She looked up at him and although initially she looked a bit panicky she calmed and cocked any eyebrow at him.

'You are? Oh great...'

Once they'd sat and she'd calmed down some more he faced her. Ignoring the looks from the other patrons and asked her quietly.

"You're not from about these parts I'll bet kid."

She looked a few years older than Luke but not quite Han's thirty five standard years. He could now see that the patches were of some kind of fighter squadron but not a ship he recognised, or in a language he understood. She was dirty, slightly sweaty and he could smell her. Obviously been out a while.

For her part the woman was giving him a once over as well, over the lip of her glass.

"Nope. My ride came down what feels like a million klicks away. Frak it."

He raised an eyebrow at the unknown but strangely familiar curse but grinned, sticking a hand out.

"Han Solo. Captain of the Millenium Falcon."

She regarded him again. Placed the glass down, coughing slightly and grasped the hand. Firmly Han noted.

"Kara Thrace. Captain of the…."

She tailed off apparently not knowing what to say next.

"Captain of nothing much actually."

Han laughed out loud. She was a mess he could see but there was something there. She exuded something. Definitely military he thought.

"Well Kara Thrace. Welcome to Danju Prime."

As they shook hands the door flew open behind them and his face fell. A tall man stood there slapping his hat against a thigh to shake off the snow that was now falling outside. He wore the grey uniform of an Imperial Major and was flanked by two Stormtroopers.

"Aww kriff. Didin't I just leave this party…."


End file.
